Verde — Restaurant in Miami

This place lacks customer care. I've been here many times and the food is hit and miss, and so is the service.

The most unprofessional aspect of their operation is their military disciplined seating accommodations. I would understand their policies when the restaurant is full, but the bad business of executing their operations during times they could accommodate PAYING customers is lacking.

I showed around 4 pm on a Friday to an empty restaurant and seating area. The sandwich selection was not great so the counter staff asked if I'd like to order something off the menu. I agreed, thinking perhaps the wait staff were no longer working or trying to go home and that's why she was trying to get me to order off the restaurant menu at the counter. I paid $21 for a burger (with tip) and then I had to practically beg to sit at a table to eat it! I tipped the counter staff like a regular wait person because I thought I was going to sit at a table and they would need to clean up afterwards but no - and this was NOT made clear to me when I placed my order. In fact, it felt like just the opposite and the counter person was trying to do me a favor but what I think they're really doing is just trying to collect tips. If they don't want you sitting at their tables in their EMPTY restaurant, the staff need to TELL THE CUSTOMERS of this fact before selling them food and/or beverages at ANY PLACE in their restuarant!!!!

Also - the fries that accompanied my burger were cold and hard. I tried to eat them but couldn't so I asked if they could provide hot fresh fries - which took 30 minutes to provide long after my burger went cold. Of course, my fries and burger were very good separately, and once they were hot.

I've occasionally had some great finds here like the cracked pepper potato chips and once they had a sandwich on chibatta that was to die for, but their chicken under a brick is awful. It's also been on the menu since they opened and their only option to eat chicken in their restaurant unless you have a sandwich. They tell you they change their menu but it doesn't look like it - EVER.

So lesson learned, don't try to do this staff a favor by ordering at the counter - only sit at a table and demand wait staff service (even if you'll be the only one eating in their empty restaurant and the wait staff are picking up and trying to go home), and that's IF you want to support such a business. I didn't know it at the time, but the science museum servces a burger for half the cost of this restaurant - and I wish I would have had it at the science museum just as a matter of principle :( NEXT TIME I WILL!!!

Enjoy if you can - I love the view and to eat at museums but watching people who just spent $10+ on a coffee and muffin being asked to stop sitting at a table to eat it - is just not a place where I can enjoy myself. It's bad business, even...

I took my husband to Verde for brunch on Father’s Day. We had a reservation for shortly after the restaurant opened and we were met by two lovely hostesses. They offered us inside or outside dining. As beautiful as the view was of the bay and the cruise ships in port, as a Miami native I told them we pass on outside in June. The inside was not crowded at all and we still had a bay view.

Verde offers a full lunch and brunch menu on the weekends. I ordered the yellow shakshuka, that was a delightful take on the original “red”recipe, including mango, yellow tomatoes and peppers, avocado ( verde not Amarillo but close) and corn with poached eggs and feta. It was truly delicious and so filling that I couldn’t even finish it. The Zaatar crusted dipping pita was an especially nice touch on point with this dish’s middle eastern roots.

My husband had the special grilled cheese and short rib sandwich, which came with a choice of salad or fries. It was served on a rye style bread and it tasted incredible. But grilled cheese and short rib .. how can you go wrong?

We also imbibed and had Bloody Marys. The Tajin dipped rim was a nice touch.

Notwithstanding that we were both stuffed, we could not resist the churro cheesecake. It was a delicious traditional cheesecake with a graham cracker crust topped with chunks of crispy deep fried churros and a dulce de leche sauce. Although it was sparingly drizzled on the cake, I would ask for it all on the side next time to dip as desired because the cake and churros alone were more than enough.

Of course dining is a 360 degree experience. So in addition to one of the best views in Miami and wonderful food, our server Eric, was the best!!! We had a lovely conversation about Miami today and in the past.. ( as I am actually a native of an undisclosed but officially senior citizen age) and he was just delightful, attentive and on point all the way. He even told us about the Thursday night parties at Verde, which seemed to be a fun night ( if you discount traffic)

Luckily, we were going to the museum afterwards so we had a chance to burn off some of those calories.

Overall, we had a great meal and a terrific day. Prices were reasonable for the value. We will definitely be back and hopefully will get Eric as our server. The only downside is that parking is $18. But hey, Miami wants to be a tropical New York so maybe that’s a bargain too. The only problem is there’s no subway...

We attended PAMM museum as a group. Which we highly recommend. It is a beautiful museum. But Upon arrival, as a courtesy, we went to Verde to let them know that we were a decently big group and would be ordering 8 kid pizzas after our tour. We figured it would be nice to give them a heads up. The manager, Silvia, told us that we wouldn’t be allowed to order the 8 pizzas because their restaurant would be full. It seemed to me like they didn’t want to serve the kids. The restaurant was completely empty as seen in the pictures below. I told her that I wasn’t asking for anything special just 8 pizzas. She continued to give me an attitude and say that she wouldn’t be serving us the 8 pizzas. After basically pleading with her because the kids needed to eat she told me that she would only serve me 5 because that’s how many fit in the oven and that she would only run the oven once for pizza. One of her server’s even seemed confused and said to her in front of me that 6 pizzas fit in the oven and she said no. It didn’t really make any sense I offered for the kids to sit in the outside benches not even taking up space in her restaurant and she said that they weren’t a take out restaurant. I just didn’t know how to comply with whatever she wanted. She didn’t find any resolution. She told me that she would only make me the pizzas at the moment, meaning the pizzas are going to sit out for 45 minutes since our tour is 45 minutes and she refused to make them after our tour. She then added a 20% tip which I asked her why if she wasn’t even serving us but giving us pizzas to go that would be cold and she said because she takes care of her staff, Which I can 100% appreciate if we were being served in the restaurant. I didn’t argue it and paid the 20% tip even though I believe 20% is well deserving when we are being served as regular sit down customers but if we are being pushed out it doesn’t make sense. She then went and started laughing with her employees and talking about how I asked her about the 20% tip and being snarky about it. I really was confused with the whole interaction and being treated that way. We are paying customers just like anyone else would have been. The children are also well behaved which I know can be an assumption that can be made.

Also, we do these tours with our kids every summer for the past 4 years and we have never ran into this issue. We had always been served...